


Visitation

by hktk



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Gen, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-01
Updated: 2014-11-01
Packaged: 2018-02-23 11:51:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2546501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hktk/pseuds/hktk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cross plays a prank on his pupil, but it goes awry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Visitation

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for an RP contest on tumblr, where the prompt was "tell a scary story". It has been modified for AO3 posting though (some content is cut off etc).

     Although it wasn’t very prominent in England, or really, wherever they were staying, Halloween did hold a special place in General Cross’s heart. Having learned about it when he stayed in America, back when he was a scientist, it stuck with him, and when he started taking care of Allen, of  _course_  he wouldn’t pass up a good opportunity to scare him. 

     Thus, Cross spent the majority of his times thinking of scary stories the week prior. While Allen took care of any Akuma threats, the redheaded man sat back and watched, gears turning in his mind. Taking a puff of his cigarette, and exhaling, he finally got a nice story idea in mind, but he’d wait until Halloween to tell the story. 

     “Oi, sit down.” 

     Cross had left his women for the night, though they had complained when he bid them farewell. Allen and Cross had bought an inn room, with Allen counting the money they had left over fervently to make sure they  _did_  have money left over. Then, of course, they headed up, and not two steps in did Cross issue the order for his apprentice to sit. 

     As Allen did so cautiously, taking off his coat, the general crossed the room to the window, where he brought the curtains up and opened the pane. A cool breeze floated in, and Allen shivered, perhaps thinking he shouldn’t have taken off the coat. His teacher extended a hand out the window, dropped the used cigarette, and stood like that — with one arm outstretched and a blank expression half hidden by the shadows of his hat — for several moments. 

     “… M-Master?” came Allen’s meek voice. 

     Cross, reacting quickly to Allen’s question, pulled his hand back and slammed the window shut, and took several steps back, aiming  _Judgement_  at the glass. Allen stood up, craning his neck to see, but no matter how hard he strained, he couldn’t see anything,  _plus_  the Akuma Eye didn’t react. 

     “Master —” Allen repeated but was cut off by a gloved hand. Cross had moved behind him, cupping a palm over the boy’s mouth to shut him up, all the while keeping his gun trained on the dark, dark expanses through the window. 

     They both stood like that for what seemed to be forever. The candle, the only source of light in the room, flickered once, but didn’t go out. 

     “I thought I told you to sit,” whispered Cross gruffly, curtly. Allen just shook his head, trying to get the man to let go of him but to no avail; Cross just tightened his grip on him. Cross ignored any small complaints that were raised, even after he heard Allen softly say he’d bite the hand if he didn’t let go, and cocked his gun. 

     That was a warning sign. 

     Allen could feel the power of the Innocence swell up in his master, concentrated on the revolver near his head. He idly thought that whatever was out there, Cross was pulling out all the stops in order to protect them both. 

     “… It’s here,” was all Allen could remember hearing before two gunshots rang out, glass shattered, and he was suddenly thrust forward. This had happened so many times — where Allen was used as bait or a shield for debt collectors — that he was used to it. He didn’t think anything of it, really, besides knowing that it was another one of his master’s pranks. 

     When he was suddenly attacked from above by something black and slimy, he started to doubt. The white haired boy kicked and screamed, yelling for Cross to help. 

     “M-Master! P-Please! You’ve gone on too far—! Where did you  _go_!” he cried. Kicking more, he tried to activate his Innocence, but found that he couldn’t; whatever slimy thing that was upon him had sealed it.  _I’m going to die_ , he thought. Something pinched at his arm, and he felt blood, and the darkness, this slimy, disgusting darkness, started to descend more on him. 

     Allen Walker gave up. 

     His struggling ceased. His cries of help stopped. He gave in, thinking of how much he hated his master and how hard he was going to haunt him in the afterlife. Feeling like he was going to pass out, he heard laughter, and suddenly, light was thrusted upon him as the slimy thing pulled away. 

     “A-Alright, alright,  _stop_ , Maria, that’s enough!” cackled Cross on the other side of the room, near the window, back towards it. He had a hand up, controlling the corpse of the woman like a doll or puppet, and he was positively laughing his ass off. 

     “Master!” screamed Allen as he bolted upright, taking a few steps towards Cross. “What was that for?! Was this all just a trick?” 

     “Of course it was, idiot apprentice.”

     “But what was so  _disgusting_?” 

     Cross let out a sigh. “She’s a corpse, dumbass. She’s not exactly in pristine condition, especially when she sat on you.”

     “But something bit me!” Allen held up his right arm, pointing to the bloody spot on his inner forearm. It did sting a little, but as he squinted at it, it didn’t really look like a bite mark. 

     “Are you forgetting the flowers under her dress?” The General pulled up the corpse’s black gown, showing layers of roses, as the woman stood there unfazed. “She just pricked you. That’s all. Grow some damn balls and stop being a baby about it. You look like you’re about to cry.”

     Allen still seemed unconvinced. He had tried to not let it get to him, but this little trick really did seem to take its toll on the boy. “But … you fired Judgement.” 

     Cross held up the revolver, firing off once again towards the ceiling; Allen winced, and he looked up, but there was no hole. 

     “They were blanks. D’ya think I’m stupid enough to create more shit you need to pay off? I’m not  _that_  cruel of a man towards you.”

     Allen somehow doubted these words. But, it did seem to be a well-thought out plan just to scare him. Tears welling in his eyes, he opened his mouth to shout about how cruel is master actually was, but paused. 

     There were reflections in the window. But … they weren’t his, nor were they Cross’s or Timcanpy’s or Maria’s. In fact, they weren’t reflections; people were genuinely out there. There were two boys, and Allen guessed that they were only a little younger than he was. They seemed to be dressed in rags, as if they were homeless. 

     Allen wondered briefly why they were there. Were they going to ask for money? They didn’t have much of that. For food or drink? Like Master would ever give that up, especially the  _drink_  part. Deep in the pit of his stomach, however, this feeling of incomprehensible, soul-wracking fear settled. 

     Cross, meanwhile, had been watching Allen. A big smirk on his face, the Exorcist felt satisfied. He’d have to remember this story to tell to the others, to Tiedoll, to ask that damned artist if he had seen the look of horror on his own apprentices’ faces like he had. He had a feeling it’d be a solid “no”. 

     But, no matter. Cross was already planning next year’s scary prank, to see if he could get a heart attack out of the boy. Perhaps his hair would turn even  _whiter_. He thought briefly of how Mana would be looking down at him disapprovingly. Cross was beyond the realm of caring. 

     “You did good, Maria,” he said, chipper. Cross glanced over at the woman, her casket resting against the wall to her right, next to the window. Maria, of course, did not answer, but curiously, was looking the other way — behind her, towards the window. Cross furrowed his eyebrows. “Maria?” 

     She did not answer, once more, yet did not move. 

     “Master…” came Allen’s small, soft voice. “The… prank is over, right?” 

     Cross turned to him again, eyebrows furrowing even further now. What was that even supposed to mean? “Yeah. It’s been over. I’ve got nothing else planned.” He pursed his lips. “Why do you ask.”

     “It’s just… well, um…” Allen trailed off; instead, he raised one arm quietly, pointing towards the window. “They’re… You don’t know them, right?” 

     Confusion crossed the redhead’s face. He didn’t move just yet. Glancing once more up at Maria, he noticed that she still kept her face turned towards the window. If Allen had been playing a prank to get revenge, there would be no reason for Maria to play along. After all, she did only listen to him. Just as he was contemplating what to do, Cross, too, felt a sense of dread well up inside of him. 

     “Mister.” 

     The unforeseen word set his teeth on edge, and Cross took a step back and turned around simultaneously. Sure enough, there were two boys standing there. Neither he nor Allen said anything. 

     One of the boys knocked on the pane. 

     “Mister.” The boy’s voice was muffled because of the glass between them. “Will you let us stay with you for tonight? It’s cold out.” 

     Cross took another step back, towards Allen. Subconsciously, he stood in front of the boy, unloading the blanks and shutting the chamber of Judgement. The bullets would spawn automatically, if he needed them. He hoped he wouldn’t, but this trepidation he had would not go away. 

     “Allen,” he said quietly, “I want you to stay very quiet. Do not move.” 

     The boy watched and nodded, and he would recall, at a later date, that for the first time, he could hear fear in his master’s voice. He would also realize that he would never hear this certain tone again. 

     “Mister,” called the boy again, “please. It’s freezing out here. My friend is going to catch a cold.”

     “Go somewhere else,” said Cross, firmly. 

     “We have nowhere else to go.”

     “ _Find_  somewhere else, then.” 

     “ _Please_ , mister.” The boy sounded more forceful. “We have  _nowhere_  else to go. We won’t hurt you. We’re just two boys.” 

     The horror had spread to Cross’s chest. He caught himself reaching out towards the window, fingers almost grazing the latch; pulling his hand back almost too suddenly, the boy stared at him and said something extremely unnerving. 

     “We are not Akuma and do not have guns. Please let us in.”

     Cross froze. He took another step back, wrapping his free hand, the one he had just pulled from the window, around Allen’s shoulders, while still keeping the boy behind him. 

     Allen spoke up, voice soft and wary. “Master, I just realized something.”

     The general looked down at him. “What is it.”

     “Aren’t we on the second floor?”

     “ _We are not dangerous!_ " The window pane rattled. When Cross looked back up, both of the boys’ eyes were completely black. The alarm and horror in his chest had grown to be too much, especially now. Allen had cried out a little, moving closer to his master. 

     “Go  _away_ , you fucks!” screamed Cross. “We don’t want any! Maria,  _Carte Garde_!” Although this attack wouldn’t protect them if they figured out where they were, it would cloak them, and perhaps these — these whatever they were — would leave them alone. Maria’s song rose above the screams of the two boys’; she moved closer to Cross as she activated the Carte Garde.  _  
_

Cross grabbed Allen, kneeling down, pulling his apprentice close. His gun was fully loaded, now. Maria knelt down on the floor as well, behind Cross, who leaned against her. He never took his eyes off the window.

     The boys still screamed, screamed about how they weren’t dangerous, that they were just cold. That they just wanted a place to stay. That they weren’t Akuma and weren’t armed. 

     Allen moved closer to Cross, who had one hand wrapped around the white haired boy’s shouders. Allen noted how white Cross’s knuckles were, as if he were pushed to the edge, but the grip he had on Allen didn’t hurt. 

     The feeling of dread never went away. 

     Until morning. 

     Cross awoke with a start. Carte Garde was still active. The sunlight poured in through the window. Everything was silent. Allen was pressed up against his chest, sleeping soundly, and he had a death grip on Judgement. 

     “Maria, cease.” 

     The invisible barrier dropped. 

     “Wake up,” he said quietly, gently shaking Allen to an awake state. 

     “Master…? Are they…?”

     “They seem to be.”

     “Ah,” Allen breathed out in relief. “Thank goodness.” He yawned, leaning back against Cross, and soon, he was asleep once more. 

     “… Tch. Dumbass.” Cross set Judgement down, picking Allen up and setting him in the bed. He grabbed a bottle of wine from his bag and proceeded to drink half of it; the general went downstairs to cancel their reserve for another night. He wanted out of this city, and he needed a cigarette.


End file.
